The Dynamics between the Orthodox Tewahedo Church and Polity in Modern Ethiopia and Its Role in Establishing Peace in the Country

Abstract

The interaction between the Orthodox Church and the state in Ethiopia has undergone various phases throughout the country's history. Emperor Haile Selassie, who came to power in 1930, sought to modernise Ethiopia by adopting Western educational and administrative systems. This included restructuring the Church administration to establish a centralised hierarchy for easier control. The military regime that seized power in 1974, inspired by Marxist and Leninist ideologies, showed strong hostility towards religion. When this regime took over the Patriarchate in Addis Ababa, Church administration shifted back to influential monasteries in rural Ethiopia, leading to a period of reduced activity, often termed hibernation. Communist propaganda which aimed at secularising the urban youth population gained some traction until the regime's overthrow in 1991 following the collapse of the USSR. The quasi-democratic regime of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front, which took power in 1991–92, liberated all religious communities from political suppression. They introduced an ethnic federalism system, dividing the country into states based on ethnicity. However, this regime later faced accusations of favouring a single ethnic group, leading to the rise of the current oligarchical government in 2017. Consequently, the Orthodox Church saw a decline in its political influence. This paper examines these historical and political developments in relation to Church history to understand the Ethiopian Orthodox Church's role in past, present and future peace restoration efforts, particularly following recent conflicts in northern Ethiopia.